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In Maine, hopes turn to law students amid dearth of rural attorneys

Mar 28, 2022
Lawmakers consider a proposal that might convince some law students to work and live in rural communities.
Legislators have proposed allowing law students to work at a legal aid clinic in Fort Kent to alleviate the shortage of lawyers in the area.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Pandemic pushes big-city dreamers out of Shanghai

Mar 30, 2021
Workers from rural China came to Shanghai in search of better lives, a challenge even in good times. Then the COVID-19 lockdown hit.
Parents boast about their unmarried children's achievements on handwritten notes taped to umbrellas at Shanghai's People's Park. The ads bring China's urban-rural divide into sharp focus.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

Rural bank branches more scarce than ever

Dec 3, 2019
The Federal Reserve found that over 40% of rural counties lost bank branches in the five years to 2017.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

The lucky migrant workers who get to retire in Beijing

Oct 4, 2019
While many people move away from the countryside for work, few of them are able to officially register in the cities.
A man sells dream catchers in Beijing. Few migrant workers from the countryside can stay in the city long term.
Photo courtesy of Shanghai 808 Studio

T-Mobile-Sprint merger depends on promise to bring 5G to rural America

May 21, 2019
But it will require big spending on new tech in areas with small customer bases.
Picture shows a 5G antenna at Deutsche Telekom stand on the first day of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) on February 26, 2018 in Barcelona.
PAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images

Trump speaks to farmers, highlighting taxes and trade

Jan 8, 2018
The president announced a new initiative to expand access to rural broadband in a speech to the Farm Bureau convention.
President Donald Trump speaks at the American Farm Bureau Federations 99th Annual Convention at Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee, today.
JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

A rural Alaskan village established a reindeer herd to improve diet and boost economy

Dec 11, 2017
The isolated village of Port Heiden hopes reindeer, and a few other farm animals, may be the answer to expensive imported fresh food.
When Meshik Farm reindeer are not grazing on the tundra, they live in a pen the size of football field. 
Avery Lill/ for Marketplace

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Trump's desire for private infrastructure money will narrow his choices to mostly urban projects

Jul 19, 2017
Rural America, which supported Trump in the election, could be left out of water and road building investment as states and the president leverage private investment. Trump's plan offers little detail on federal spending and timing. Adding to the uncertainty, a presidential adviser has indicated that states should help themselves.


Infrastructure renewal work beneath Penn Station in New York. 


 
Kathy Willens/AP

How Trump’s immigration ban could worsen rural doctor shortage

Feb 2, 2017
There’s a big problem with doctors in rural areas — there aren’t enough to go around. One solution has been to hire foreign-born doctors, which is why President Donald Trump’s recent immigration ban has a lot of people in rural areas worried. How will this reduce the number of available physicians and other medical professionals […]

Loan forgiveness programs offered to help boost ranks of mental health professionals

Oct 7, 2016
The Affordable Care Act has given millions of Americans access to mental health coverage. That’s created a demand for providers.
Robert Duehmig is the deputy director of the Oregon Office of Rural Health, which offers the Behavioral Health Loan Repayment Program.
Melanie Sevcenko